On the road

Chris and I are at the National Paragliding Competition in Bishop, California. It's basically the moon- that is if there's a desert on the moon.

We took Dyggs with us, and the big $$$ truck. Now that we don't have a wonderful and completely loving- and loved- mother in law to baby sit him, he's with us for the long haul. So far it's been working out well. The pilots are giving him more love than he knows what to do with.

The only complaint thus far is his flatulence issue. When you have 10 guys in the truck, in 4 wheel low crawling up the side of a mountain, it can be a problem. He's only been kicked out of the truck once and luckily he can run faster than we can crawl.

We drove through Salt Lake on our way out, had coffee with Chris's Dad and talked a little politics- just to get my blood pressure up- and then drove till we could drive no longer. We found a dirt road a followed it until we found a spot that looked appealing to lay down our sleeping bags. This is what we woke up to:

Wow! I love that! Going to sleep, not able to see past your headlights, and then waking up to something more beautiful than you could have imagined.


It's the second day of the comp, and it blew out today- got too windy, even for crazy competition pilots to fly in. There's not water to be heard of, so we're on the prowl for activities to fill our time. I think that we may be permanently changed, and maybe not for the better, by the time the comp is over.

So what do you guys think of the color change?

I know that there are a ton of people reading this, but you're all too shy and timid to use the comment tool- and I'm feeling so alone and far away from you.

So do you like the colors? hint: use the comment tool.

The Website is Down

So THIS evidently, is what Chris used to do for work... a long, long time ago...
and is the origin of why he despises the cubicle, and will probably never, ever again serve as an employee.

Ahhh... I understand.

I realize now, only after watching this clip, that I have had the pieces to complete the puzzle of his past- all of this time, but had never pasted them together into the reality that is was.

What a reality. I am so glad that it is in the past-tense.

I have found even more respect than I had had before, for my gypsy man.

Tour De Fat

I was already under the impression that Fort Collins is the greatest place yet that I've dropped camp in my short 31 years. But something happened this past weekend that I was completely unprepared for.

Have you ever heard of the Tour De Fat? I hadn't, at least not until I moved here. Even then, just hearing about it didn't do it justice for me. Not until I actually experienced it did I understand just how mind boggling and brilliant it really is. My love for Fort Collins has just reached a new depth.

Imagine 7000+ people dressed in costume, riding bikes. Fabulous!

The Tour De Fat is held annually by the New Belgium Brewing Company, which is home to Fort Collins. It's goal is to increase transportation via bicycle- but that's only one of their many efforts to be environmentally sustainable.

Chris and I chose to move to Fort Collins in order to decrease our - I'm going to say it- Environmental Footprint. We live right in town and we both make an effort to bike everywhere, short of Utah. Seriously though, the town is small enough that you logically don't need a vehicle- unless you're really lazy.

This is why I'm so amazed. I was already floored by how many people choose the peddle over the car daily, but to see 7000 of them all in one place! Even if they weren't decked out in outrageous costumes it would still have been maybe the coolest community events that I've ever been part of.

Here's a few photo's that I took. To those of you who have been patiently waiting for my photo's, remember that 'patients is a virtue' because I took exactly 1016 of them and I really love the attention that I'm getting by leading you along. Keep checking my flicker account -just click on the picture in the right upper corner of this blog and look in the "Tour De Fat" set.

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Let me brag- just a little.

Finally!

Here's the article titled: XCSKIES.com that I was talking about a few weeks ago. It was authored by Katrina Mohr and she did a fantastic job- it's not an easy task understanding all that nerdy scientific data.

It was published in the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine (www.USHPA.aero) this past August.

It's an awesome article! Give it a read. XCSKIES.com

Breathing is key to a healthy life.

You should have heard the silence in our house last night. At least last night I was breathing, verses the night before when I held my breath for 1/2 hour.

My #1 pet-peeve, other than bad table manners, ADHD twitching and smacking gum, is:

Ignorance: the destitute of knowledge or education. also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified; Merriam-Webster.

Specifically, believing politicians blindly.

'Education' is Not watching the news, or reading publications. I can't stress how important it is to understand whom it is that owns and funds your information sources.

'Education' Is reading unbiased publications that print factual data, like voting records.

I've just written a paragraph, and erased it. 4 times. So I'll leave it at this:

I politely urge you to PLEASE read this. And YES, you have the time.

Additionally, I've posted (to the right) some other resources.

cultivation

Today, I'm working on cultivating my own positive thoughts, and not using my photo shop skills to make a certain somebody look like a she-devil. That would be considered mean and unprofessional. Instead, I've created the picture above, because it's beautiful. And God knows, we need all the beauty that we can get in this world.

so lonely

He's gone. Dead to me.

He took his 15 computer screens and left. Gone. Into the big world of people with offices...that have windows. "Offices with window's people". He's far too good for me. Out of my league. Thank God that we're already married with joint bank statements and bad investments, or I would never have stood a chance with him. He's class. High Class.

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On a brighter note, we found our road. It's east to west, and north to south! 2 miles plus, no power lines, fences or angry farmers with guns and dogs! And it's just across the border in Wyoming.

You gotta love Wyoming. Here's the scene:

It's 92 degrees.
A Rancher drives by pulling a trailer lined with horses.

This is what he witnesses:

Chris, clad in his helmet, gloves, 5 layers of clothes, and radio harness. He's wrestling with, to the layman's eye, a green and orange piece of over-sized bed sheet fastened to his back with strings. And to complete the conundrum, he's tied to a rope which is fastened to the bumper of a big a$$ truck. If this isn't baffling enough, his wife, crabby and sunstroked, is preparing to pull him at 35 mph down the road.

This is the Ranchers response to the puzzling predicament:

A nod and a tilt of his hat. Not even a tap on the brakes. Totally at ease in his belief that we are putting his land to its' best use.

You gotta love Wyoming.